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There are currently four dogs trained at the University of Helsinki at Helsinki Airport. Their job is to identify COVID-19 patients. The dog’s sense of smell is so sensitive that decades ago it was noticed that they could smell disease. The reaction of diseases and the immune system to them changes some biochemical processes in the human body. Those changes also affect the smell. Although the differences in smells between sick and healthy people are small, the smell of dogs is able to distinguish them. Researchers have been experimenting for some time with dogs that can recognize people with cancer.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was observed that dogs could also be trained to recognize people with the disease. In fact, the researchers say it’s not even very difficult for our four friends – training dogs that recognize COVID-19 is very fast and accurate. So now four dogs are already working at Helsinki airport, although they don’t smell people directly.
The dogs Kossi and Miina are learning to recognize COVID-19 at Helsinki airport
There are a number of factors to consider when hiring dogs at an airport. Some people are afraid of dogs, others are allergic to them. Finally, and some dogs just can’t work in a noisy airport environment. Therefore, the researchers developed a special testing procedure.
The person who wants to investigate (passenger or airport employee) arrives at the designated point. Here you take your own skin swabs as instructed. At that moment, the dog and her handler wait outside the wall. When the time comes, the dog begins to smell the spots and informs the handler if it smells signs of COVID-19. The opinion of the dog, of course, is not the final diagnosis: if the dog detects the disease, the person is sent for a more detailed test. However, the accuracy of a dog’s nose is so high that if the disease is not detected, the person can be considered not to have it.
The dogs Kossi and Miina are learning to recognize COVID-19 at Helsinki airport
Studies show that dog noses detect people with COVID-19 with 94 to 100 percent. accuracy.
Additionally, researchers believe that dogs can detect COVID-19 disease earlier than conventional laboratory methods. The best part is that dog training only lasts a few months. Dogs are practically completely resistant to COVID-19 and are therefore not at risk.
It is true that this work with dogs is not yet enshrined in the law, so this is still an experiment. However, scientists believe that dogs provide an opportunity to inspect large numbers of people very quickly, so in the future they will be desperately needed in airports and other high-traffic areas.
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